National systems and a regional plant variety right system run in parallel

Transcription

1 EU Lunch Seminar 15 years of supranational cooperation in plant variety protection: the European experience Geneva, Intercontinental Hotel, October 21, 2011 National systems and a regional plant variety right system run in parallel Edward S. Gacek Director General The Research Centre for Cultivar Testing, Poland (representing the Polish presidency of the EU Council)

2 History of PVP system in Poland PL joined UPOV on , after ratification of the 1978 Act of the UPOV Convention National PVP system is operational, since 1988 PL acceded to the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention on Presently, all genera and species are eligible to be nationally protected

3 Characteristic of PVP systems in Poland (1) Since Poland s accession to the EU, National PVP (npvp) system exists in parallel with Community PVP (CPVP) regime npvp offers variety protection on the Polish territory, only Since 2004, it is up to the breeder to decide what type of the protection to choose npvp system is very popular with domestic breeders; almost all of plant varieties bred by Polish breeders are protected by npbr titles

4 Characteristic of PVP systems in Poland (2) If the breeder sees a market for a new variety in more than two EU member states, the CPVP is preferred Any variety which is subject of a CPVP shall not be subject of a npvp or any patent for that variety It is not prohibited that a part of a variety (eg. a gene coding of particular trait) is protected by a patent, whereas the variety as such can only be protected with npvr or CPVR

5 Characteristic of PVP systems in Poland (3) Research Centre for Cultivar Testing (COBORU) is the competent authority for the npvp administration in Poland Within the npvp system, COBORU takes also care for the technical examination of candidate varieties The register of protected varieties, including those provisionally protected, is also kept by COBORU

6 Varieties under npvp in Poland per plant sector

7 Domestic and foreign varieties under npvp in Poland

8 Types of PVP of varieties listed in Poland

9 Enforcement of PBRs in Poland (1) In case of varieties protected by npvr titles, the Polish PVP Act constitutes the legal system providing basic conditions regarding civil claims, infringements and jurisdiction In case of varieties protected by CPVR titles, additionally the following Community Acts are relevant: Basic Regulation 2100/94 - provides some basic conditions regarding civil claims, infringements and jurisdiction (Art ) Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights Regulation 1383/2003 concerning customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken against goods found to have infringed such rights

10 the breeders Enforcement of PBRs in Poland (2) The enforcement of both npbrs and the CPBRs is a shared responsibility of: breeders organization (AGNAS) - collection of FSS remunerations national legislator (civil law and penal provisions) the judicial authorities (judicial environment to deal with infringement cases) national variety office (solid title of protection, information of interested circles)

11 Enforcement of PBRs in Poland (3) The breeders act against infringements with the available legal means The Polish PVP Act seems to create adequate civil law and penal provisions to enable the effective enforcement of PBRs However, we suffer from the lack of specialised courts to deal with PBRs infringement cases

12 Enforcement of PBRs in Poland (4) Polish national variety office (COBORU) provides a solid title of protection based on a high quality technical assessment of candidate varieties and service in carrying out of variety identification tests Furthermore, COBORU regularly informs breeders, producers, farmers and judicial authorities of the implications of both npbrs and CPBRs infringements The final aim of our activities is to raise awareness of problems and solutions as regards the enforcement of PBRs (seminars, training courses, publications, etc.)

13 Farmers privilege (agricultural exemption) (1) The National PVP Act contains provisions which constitute the basis for collection of FSS remunerations for varieties protected both with npvrs and CPVRs There exists an obligation for farmers to provide information about FSS use on their holding as well as obligation for seed processors to provide information on services rendered Furthermore, clear penal provisions are helpful in fighting with infringements of PBRs on the Polish territory

14 Farmers privilege (agricultural exemption) (2) Definition of Small farmer : up to 25 ha up to 10 ha - in case of potato varieties Species covered (16): field bean, field pea, barley, linseed, lucerne, narrow leaved lupin, yellow lupin, oat, durum wheat, wheat, triticale, oilseed rape, turnip rape, common vetch, rye, potato

15 Farmers privilege (agricultural exemption) (3) Based on National PVP Act of 2003 There are no agreements between breeder or breeders organization and the holders of agricultural land about the use of FSS Breeders organization called AGNAS (Seed Agency) was established in 2003, and is responsible for the organization and collection of FSS remuneration AGNAS represents about 20 breeders of agricultural crops, of both domestic and foreign origin, operating in Poland

16 Varieties grown in Poland under AGNAS FSS remuneration collection system (2011) Agricultural crops (no. varieties) Type of protection No. varieties total domestic foreign Cereals (415) Oilseed Rape (73) Pulses (13) Potato (161) TOTAL (662) npvr CPVR npvr CPVR npvr CPVR npvr CPVR npvr CPVR

17 CONCLUDING REMARKS PVP systems functioning in Poland illustrates that both national systems and regional PVP regime can coexist smoothly in parallel Nevertheless, npvp system (1331 varieties protected) plays important role in our seed sector and is much more preferred by domestic breeders than CPVR regime Enforceability provisions in our PVP Law, especially on FSS use, are more adapted to national conditions than the relevant CPVP provisions

18 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION